Dot hack Return
by Argos
Summary: A comatose victim awakens and has chilling dreams about a meadow and a girl in white who says, but one word: Return. Read and Review please, its a quick read I promise. 9/20/08 Last Chapter is up!
1. Chapter 1

Author's Note: This is just an idea I had about a new .hack story. Not sure what I want to do with it yet, but I just had to write it down. Let me know what you think!

I own nothing except my original ideas...and the games and tv series

* * *

_**Strange Dreams **_

A year and a half has passed since I woke up. Everyone was so happy, even the people at school who didn't like me were happy to have me back. Everyone asks what it was like being in a coma. "It's difficult to explain." I tell them. "It's kinda like you're sleeping but not dreaming or getting any rest from it." Then they usually look at me open mouthed and I laugh away the awkwardness of the situation. Even though I only played "The World" for a few months I've been having strange dreams lately. I'm standing in the middle of a meadow full of flowers of all kinds and colors, yellows, reds, pinks, blues and a soft summer breeze is always blowing the flower petals everywhere. I know it's a zone from "The World", but the odd part about it is that in the center of the meadow there is a girl all dressed in white. She isn't a monster and I don't think she is a regular NPC in the zone either. I think she's sad for some reason, but she is also gentle. All I can see is her back, when I try to get any closer I get pulled back and everything fades to darkness, then I wake up. These dreams started maybe a month or so after I woke up from the coma. Every night for the past month there is this sad white girl in a beautiful meadow and yet I can't get closer than 10 feet away from her. I talked to a friend at school about the peculiar dreams, but all he said was that I played "The World" too much, truth is since I came home from the hospital its been sitting in a box under my bed collecting dust. I wonder what would happen if I returned to that place. For the time I played it I felt like I had a place to go, an escape from reality. That's all in the past now though.

Another week goes by and I have the same dream. I'm in this meadow where grass and flowers span as far as the eye can see, the gentle breeze wafting the different fragrances of the flowers together in a sweet summer smell. There she was standing 20 feet in front of me, this girl in flowing white robes and lilac colored hair that moved delicately in the breeze. This time I was able to approach her and speak. "Who are you?" I asked curiously. She didn't respond or even acknowledge my presence. "Hello can you hear me?" I asked. Again no response. I extended my arm to tap her shoulder and then I heard the most annoying sound, it was as if someone struck a tuning fork in my head. The image of the meadows started to whirl and the colors began to blend, as this abyss was forming I heard one word, the girl had spoken! She said in a meek and gentle voice "Return." I woke up in a cold swear with my head pounding. "What the hell? Return? Should I go back?" My thoughts shifted to the tennis shoe box under my bed collecting dust with my headset and game controller


	2. Chapter 2

_**Welcome to "The World" **_

The controller fit perfectly in my hands as if it never left. The controller looked like a standard playstation controller and the headset had a microphone and a visor attached to enhance the graphics and sound of the game. I loaded the game up on my computer for the first time in well over a year. The log in screen was exactly the same. "Not much has changed." I thought as I typed in my seven character alphanumeric username and my simple four digit password. "I can't believe I'm really going back." I thought as my heart raced. My wallpaper and custom background music was the same as it was when I first played. The game's theme song "The World" played as my background song and I had a custom wallpaper of myself and my in-game friends. It was nostalgic. My heart skipped a beat when I clicked "log in." I was nervous and excited at the same time.

"I'm sorry bur you're character data has been damaged beyond repair, please create a new character."

"Goddamn it." I cursed under my breath. Although I wasn't surprised that my character's data was completely destroyed, after my run-in that left me comatose I was surprised my account was still intact. It took me ages to create my first character; it was a Wavemaster dressed in grey robes with a funky hat with green jewels. I thought it looked pretty badass; it took me over an hour to create him. "Hmm I'll create a melee character this time; mages are fun but not too much solo ability. Blademaster…Adept Rogue…Heavy Axemen… Heavy Blade…no none of these…" I scrolled through the jobs for maybe 20 minutes before I picked the right class for me; Twinblade. I designed him with royal purple eyes, sapphire blue hair, and a wolf grey suite with black stripes diagonally on the pants so when he stood together there were three 'V' marks, each one bigger than the last. Lastly, he had two Nike like signs on each cheek both blue like his hair. Finally about an hour after I booted up "The World" I was ready to begin. My new name is Kashou, my old name matters not.

There were two servers set for low level players, when I originally played it was just the Delta server, but now there was a Tau server. I chose the latter to start on and entered "The World" once more.

I opened my eyes to find myself in the Tau server, the root town name was The Highland Plains Li'Tielor Players of all jobs roamed freely, some in groups some playing solo. This was the beauty of "The World", anyone could play however he or she chose. "'The World 'was my escape."

I scanned my friendlist and the few names I had registered were wiped clean with my last character, the corruption most likely erased it along with all of my letters in my inbox.

I began walking toward the item shop to prepare for a random dungeon crawl to level up when I noticed a Wavemaster crying at the recorder's office. He was dressed in ocean blue robes with red jewels decorating his floppy hat; he also carried a crescent staff with a deep blue jewel floating in the center with seaweed green waves on both cheeks.

"Excuse me sir…" He said timidly. I ignored him at first and continued to head to my destination. He cut me off. "What is it?" I asked trying to feign interest. "Um…could you please help me?" He asked staring at the ground. I really didn't want to, but it might have been fun. "What do you need?" "Could you come with me to a dungeon? I need help getting an item for a quest." I thought this would be an easy enough task. "I have the keywords for the zone…I just need help…." The timid Wavemaster said hastily. "What the hell." I thought, it would be easy XP and gold. "Sure, I'll meet you in front of the Chaos Gate in a few minutes."


	3. Chapter 3

_**Foxfire Burning Melody **_

The Chaos Gate hadn't changed at all. The crystal blue gate encased in a gold rim still spun around, it would keep spinning until the end of time. I found the Wavemaster waiting at the gate like I told him. "Oh wow you showed up!" He exclaimed happily. "This kid must not have many friends if he's surprised by a total stranger helping him." I thought. "Yeah, are you ready?" The Wavemaster nodded. "Oh I almost forgot my name is Turnip, what's yours?" "Kashou." I replied. "What are the keywords?" "Tau Foxfire Burning Melody." Turnip said before he warped. I always enjoyed the Chaos Gate animation, ripples of blue then turning to red and finally green when you reached your destination. I was amazed when I first used it, but now it seemed hardly remarkable.

The field was a meadow bathed in the twilight of the sun, immediately I thought of the field from my dream, but this wasn't it. There were no flowers, no sunshine, no breeze and most of all no girl in the distance. "It's this way!" Turnip said as he ran towards the tower barely visible in the distance.

We approached the tower, the twilight of the sun faded and the entire field was bathed in darkness, the only source of light was from the artificial stars and the full moon. "You ready?" I asked. Turnip nodded and then we entered the dungeon. The tower was ancient. Pieces of the wall had been blown off and some bits of the ceiling lined the floor. We fought our way through to the deepest level of the dungeon; the field level was set to five so it wasn't exactly a difficult task to accomplish. After twenty minutes or so of exploring we came to the deepest level, the pathway to the treasure room leaked a dull purple mist. "There's a boss monster ahead, are you ready for it?" I asked, this Wavemaster looked like he was going to piss himself and just nodded weakly.

We entered the battle area; it would be a level five monster so I wasn't worried in the least bit. The area was large enough to run around in and once we beat the monster the path to the treasure room would unlock itself.

"Here it comes!" I exclaimed hearing the monster crawling around on the ceiling. "Scatter!" I shouted as it dropped. Turnip had barely gotten out of the way of the creature, but the force of the monster dropping still caused his character to fall over. "Turnip ignore all your SP! Just blast the thing!" I commanded. The monster was a giant spider, colored with a mix of purple and blue with beady bright yellow eyes, venom dripped from its fangs.

I charged at the beast with my twin daggers. Several balls of fire were hurled at the spider; Turnip must have unleashed a fire spell. I slashed at the monster as it leapt into the air and clung onto the far eastern wall. "Watch out, I think its going to do its special move." Sure enough that's what it was about to do. It scurried along the walls until it got behind Turnip. The monster spewed thick silver webbing that attached itself to the back of Turnip's robe. The monster began to reel in the poor Wavemaster into its fangs.I rushed to his aid. I cut the webbing right as Turnip reached the venom dripping fangs. I decided that now would be the best time to use my remaining SP for a special attack. "Hmm Staccato sounds interesting." I thought. After deciding on Staccato my character began to spin furiously like a top with the twin daggers sticking out. Before either of us knew it I had hacked the monster into bits and pieces. "Thanks for saving me; I'm sorry I was careless." Turnip said every word in-between breaths. A panel on the northern wall crumbled showing us the path to the treasure room. "Well let's go!" I said. We began to run towards the treasure room.

The room looked a lot like the boss room. The only difference was that there was a chest sitting on a crystal pedestal in the center of the room. "Go on Turnip, the treasure is yours." "No…I can't take it. If it weren't for you I wouldn't have even gotten this far. You can take it, really." I would have protested more, but he said those words not in his usual meek and timid tone, but rather in a more assertive voice. I nodded to him and walked towards the chest.

"Uh, what the?" I said as I drew out a single blade of grass from the chest. "What is that?" Turnip asked. "Junk." I replied. "You better keep it, never know when seemingly useless items will come in handy in this game." The Wavemaster said in a friendly tone. "Thanks for the adventure today! Maybe we can go on another one some other time?" He asked hopefully. "Sure." I replied not really paying attention; I was more focused on the contents of the chest. The blade of grass seemed familiar and yet I can't remember where I saw it before.


	4. Chapter 4

_**Mystery  
**_

I had the same dream that night. It was just as vivid as before, except this time the girl didn't say anything to me at all. The gentle summer breeze continued to blow her hair and flower petals. I didn't move this time, I just stood there in awe of her natural beauty. Then I woke up. I wish I knew what those dreams meant. "Did she want me to return for some reason? That's impossible. She's just a mixture of pixels and colors some nerd created. She can't _want_ something….can she?"

**Sender**: Turnip

**Subject**: Blade of Grass

Hey thanks for last night, did you ever find out what that item was used for? I left a couple posts on the message boards asking about an item like that. Someone named Elrik responded and said he wanted to see it. He'll be waiting around in the Delta root town. You should check it out, maybe its ultra rare and has some sort of secret skill :-)

The water capital Mac Anu. It hasn't changed a bit. The same crystal blue river runs through the town and the marble bridge is still intact. Even the background music is the same. "If I was going to some secret meeting where would I go?" It took me a few moments, but then I remembered an alleyway behind all the shops. I walked casually down the streets picking up bits of player conversation. "It seems that everyone has already forgotten about the comatose players." I thought. I approached the alleyway hesitantly. At first I didn't see anyone. "Are you the one who found the mystery item?" A deep male voice asked behind me. "Uh, yeah." I turned around and saw a Wavemaster in ocean blue robes with sky blue hair. "Are you Elrik?" "Yes I am. Now may I see this mystery item?" He asked sounding like he had better things to do. "Here, it's just a stupid blade of grass. Some junk item right?" Elrik tried to snatch it from me, but I pulled it back. "That's…an incredibly rare item!" He exclaimed excitedly. "I use to collect those, but after the original "The World" was scrapped I thought they were removed from the system…wait if this item exists then does that mean!? I need to go, but hold onto that item it holds a terrible secret." Elrik said before rushing off. Whatever this item was it certainly seemed important to him.

"What do I do now?" I began to think to myself as I settled down on a tuft of grass in the Tau server root town. "That player didn't know anything about this item, and I doubt no one knows anything about a girl in white…"

"_What about the player forums?"_

"There is always the player forum I guess. It can't hurt to try."

**Topic**: Girl in white

**Poster**: Kashou

I've heard some rumors about a girl in a flowing white dress lurking around in one of the game fields, has anyone heard anything to justify this rumor? If so feel free to respond or e-mail me.

"Oh I have a new e-mail…."

**Sender**: Elrik

**Subject**: Item

I'd like to talk to you about the item you found. Come to Delta Burning Oblivious Kitty Whiskers and we can discuss it privately.

:"There's nothing left to talk about, but maybe he knows something about the girl in white."

The field was a vast meadow without a dungeon. Windmills lined a great lake with sparkling blue water in the center of the map. Elrik was sitting on the edge of the lake. Tall grass seemed to sprout on the bank of the lake, he was chewing on a blade of grass when I approached him.

"Ah, you received my e-mail then."

"Yeah. Is there anything new you can tell me about this item?" I asked, this time my tone insinuated that I had better things to do than have this conversation.

"It was here I found that item, back when I was playing the original "The World. It was this very spot actually. I found the item same as you and I was curious as to its purpose as well. Not soon after in this same zone I was ambushed by player killers, I was inexperienced in the game. I thought I was going to die when another player saved me. She was using an edited character, but I didn't care. She asked me if she could have the item, which I handed over as payment for saving me. After that we searched "The World" for more of the item. It served no purpose except that it made us happy."

"What was so strange about her character?"

"She was a cat. Her name was Mia."

"What happened to her?"

"She….stopped playing after the original "The World" was erased. After that I stopped finding that item as well." Elrik's voice dropped as he told me this tale, it was obvious that he cared for Mia very much.

"Elrik…have you ever encountered a zone with a girl dressed in white?"

Elrik seemed very surprised when I mentioned this girl and when I described her he was speechless.

"That's….Aura. She… was suppose to be erased along with "The World" version one." This troubled him for reasons I couldn't understand. I had no idea who this "Aura" was or why she was speaking to me at night.

"I need to go now. I'll contact you later with more information." Elrik said hastily as he warped back to town, he couldn't get away quick enough. I didn't understand anything, but somehow I felt that this mystery item and this girl Aura were connected in some way.

I had another dream that night about this girl; about Aura. She wasn't standing in a meadow, quite the contrary she was fast asleep. The area she was sleeping in was so dark and dismal. Total darkness enveloped her and she was gripped by despair. The girl seemed so sad in this state. Somehow I knew that the game was content that she was in this unconscious state. "Was she another comatose victim like myself?" I pondered this theory, it would make sense why she stopped playing after "The World" version one was scrapped, my first character was damaged so maybe hers was too and she just left the game. No one even knows why we were comatose in the first place…where did our consciousness go? I just don't understand…"


	5. Chapter 5

_**Event**_

"Aura…who are you? How do you know me?" I want to understand.

"_I don't want to be all alone anymore."_

"_You aren't alone. I'm here and I won't leave you alone."_

"_Do you promise?"_

"_I promise I will never leave you alone."_

"_He broke this promise to you, or don't you remember? Let me show you…"_

"No! Please stop! Don't!" I screamed at the top of my voice. "Just a nightmare… that…wasn't… Aura speaking to me…it… was someone else. The voice was gentle, but in a scary way, almost cruel. What's happening to me?"

**Sender**: Turnip

**Subject**: Hello!

I haven't seen you around in a while. I want to go on another adventure with you! There's a player event today, care to go with me? Its teams of three the prize I hear is something really cool! Let me know if you want to go.

"Hmm it could be fun. What the hell."

**Sender**: Kashou

**Subject**: Re: Hello!

Sure I'll go as your partner for the event; I don't know a third person though so I hope you have someone in mind. I'll see you soon; I'm going to log in now.

It was noon in Li'Tielor. The sky was perfect blue with patches of white clouds. Not many players were wondering about, a lot of people might be at the event. "Hey Kashou! Over here!" Turnip called to me in a cheerful voice. "Hey!" I shouted back waving to the Wavemaster walking towards me. "I'm so glad you decided to come. The third person should be coming soon. He replied to me a few minutes before you did." "Who is it?" I asked trying to feign interest. "He's a high level Adept Rogue, his name is Preslisev." After Turnip said his name I felt a familiar surge of emotion that I can't explain go off in my head.

"Yo mates!" A man called in a British accent. "Hey we're over here!" Turnip called back motioning towards an Adept Rogue in chaos black armor with spikes protruding from the shoulders, he had a large red jewel in the center of his breastplate with black spikes encasing it safely. I assumed he must be a rather dark individual, although my character wasn't all that much better. I too favored the dark colors of grey and black for my character design.

There was something about this Adept Rogue that felt familiar yet I couldn't put my finger on it. "Hello? You okay there mate?" The Englishman asked me. All I could do was mumble something unintelligible and preformed a nodding emote. "Then let's go already." The Rogue said as he warped using the Chaos Gate, I nodded to Turnip and we followed suite.

The event was spectacular. It was in a lush forest, players of all kinds gathered to partake in the event. Our party approached the elderly starter NPC for instructions.

"This will be a trial of tests and tribulations for the three of you. As soon as you are ready you will be warped to a different section of the forest and you must reunite with one another and defeat the monster at the end of the maze to win." The man said in a gruff voice.

"I'm ready." I announced sounding confident, Turnip and Prestlisev nodded and with that the game began. The screen faded to black. I opened my eyes and saw trees as far as I could see. The sunlight was barely visible through patches in the treetops. What the old geezer said was true; Turnip and Prestlisev were no longer with me and the map feature was disabled. I was all alone.

I began walking, not sure in what direction. The map feature was disabled, most likely for the event. I couldn't hear either of my partners over the headset either no matter how much I tried to talk to them. The object of this event was to reunite and find a way out. Simple task I thought at first, but as I continued through this maze like forest the sun began to set and a moon took its place. I didn't really know for how long, it felt like I was going in circles. "This sucks!" I bellowed and hearing my frustrated cry ring throughout the trees. I eventually just gave up and sat down thinking one of them will come find me…hopefully.

"Hey you!" an unknown voice called out to me. "Damn it I must have fallen asleep…I haven't been getting much sleep lately." I thought to myself. I opened my eyes and I saw someone in the distance approaching me. "Turnip? Prest?" I called out to the oncoming figure. No response. As the figure came closer and closer I realized that this was not an ordinary player. I heard a familiar ringing of a tuning fork in my ears, it grew louder and louder with every step that character took. Soon I was able to see who it was. She was a Blademaster…one of the original models, but something was different. She looked like an over grown cat wearing a golden harness with a white belly.

"What the hell…" I thought out loud.

"You are the one!" She said in a cold callous voice.

"One what?" I asked confused and on guard.

"You hold what I need." She said raising her sword and pointing it at my chest.

"I don't have a god damn thing for you!" I shouted back clutching my twin daggers trying to find an escape. The event blocked the Sprite Ocarina item and the Gate Out option. I was trapped; the only way to escape was to fight.

"Trying to find an escape route? You won't find one…well there is one option. You can always turn off your computer."

"Why should I do that? This could be fun." I said flashing a confident grin.

"You will surrender it! You will surrender Aura!" She bellowed as she raced towards me. This was it. My heart raced, my blood burned and pumped through my body. I felt the surge of adrenaline and before I knew it I had engaged her in combat,


	6. Chapter 6

**Event**

**Pt. 2**

"Surrender Aura." The cat demanded in a stern voice.

"Surrender Aura? What does she mean?" I thought as I nimbly dodged her lunge.

"Where is Aura?" I demanded as I charged towards the enemy. "Tell me!" I bellowed as I made contact with purple fur.

"Don't you know? Aura is-"

"Mia!" A familiar male voice bellowed. I turned around and saw Elrik standing in a patch of sun that pierced through the treetops.

"Kashou get out of here now. Things are about to get very ugly." Elrik said raising his staff.

"Hell no! Something freaky is going on involving me and I want to know what it is. I want to know why I spent half a year in a coma and I want to know why I'm having these dreams about Aura!" I said defiantly. There was no way I would run from the very entity that could give me the answers I so desired.

"You're a fool." The cat began to laugh. "Both of you!"

"Mia don't you remember me? It's Elk, we were friends once…" Elrik pleaded.

Mia's expression did not change, she was still as cold and callous as ever.

"Give me answers now!" I bellowed. The cat looked at me, and began walking towards me, a familiar ping kept playing. The high pitched noise got louder and louder with every step Mia took. I was on my knees in pain, it was too intense. Mia outstretched her arm in my direction walking closer and closer. My head was ready to split from the intense pain of the noise.

Darkness came all too quickly. The scene with Mia and Elrik faded. I succumbed to the gentle embrace of eternal solace.

_"Stop talking to me, I don't have time to play anymore."_

_"Why can't we be friends outside the game too?"_

_"We just can't."_

_"But I…"_

_"I know. I don't feel the same way about you. It's for the best."_

Two voices echoed through the darkness, one belonged to someone with an accent the second, sadder voice came from someone else. It came from a boy who was in intense sorrow. I've never heard their voices before, yet they seemed all too familiar, I could feel the sadness and heart break of the second voice… was it mine?

"What's happening to me?! Who the hell is Aura! Why do I keep having these strange dreams about people I have never met?!" I screamed into the darkness, hoping to hear someone answer back, anyone.

"_You wish to know the truth Kashou?_ The cold woman's voice called out to me.

"Yes! Tell me! What's wrong with me? I responded, desperate for answers.

"_Seek out Helba, she has all the answers you need."_

The gentle spring air slapped me in the face and rustled my hair. The sunlight glistened gently on the water of Mac Anu. I don't remember much of the event from last night. When I regained consciousness I was in the alleyway where I had met Elrik, now who I know was originally called Elk.

* * *

Surprise surprise Elrik was originally the player Elk! Who didn't see that coming? Its been so long since I started this story I actually had to read what I wrote to figure out where I was going with the story, since I see someone set this to alert for updates I feel compelled to finish this story. I've been in a writing mood recently as well.


	7. Chapter 7

**Fragment**

I need to find Helba, I had completely forgotten about Turnip and his friend; I decided to write a quick message to him giving the excuse that I had a power surge that had knocked out my internet. I figured that would be the easiest way to explain things rather than I got into a fight with a cat and somehow was warped out of the zone when the system administrators made gating out impossible. In my search for Helba I turned to the message boards for anything related to her, but that search yielded nothing. The name Helba was familiar to me; I think it was from something I read in school once. I decided the best thing to do would be for me to post a topic about it on the message boards.

**Topic**: Helba

**Poster**: Kashou

I'd like to talk to you.

Within minutes the topic was deleted by a system administrator and I received a message from Helba.

**Sender**: Helba

**Subject**: Greetings

I'm well aware of your situation and your feelings. Upon logging into 'The World' go to the Cathedral using these keywords from the Delta server Chaos Gate: Hidden Forbidden Holy Ground. Enter the Cathedral and wait for me.

"_Hidden Forbidden Holy Ground!? Why does my stomach lurch and heart ache in pain when I think of that Cathedral? What happened there?_" As much as I struggled I could not recall any memories about that zone, all I could feel was pain.

I knew what I had to do. I was about to face the meaning of these dreams and find out what was going on. Somehow I couldn't help but feel like this was still related to the comatose victims.

Holgranz Cathedral stood as grand as the last time I was here. Something occurred to me; if the game was wiped clean how on earth did these keywords link to this area? As I approached the cathedral doors I looked around and noticed that several holes have been blown into the walkway leading to the doors. Apparently this zone hadn't been restored by the system administrators.

"Welcome Kashou." An inviting voice said as I entered the cathedral. I didn't notice her at first, but I looked at the altar and standing on the pedestal was a female Wavemaster draped in white with a mask covering her eyes and nose, the staff she held glowed ominously.

"I am Helba." Her voice was calm, but far from sweet and innocent.

"What is going on? I see things that I've never seen and I have memories that aren't mine!"

"I am well aware of that." Her voice was tense.

"It has been over a year since the comatose victims have awakened, yet there are still some side effects…"

"Side effects?"

"Yes, nothing too serious. Character data belonging to anyone involved with the coma victims have been eradicated from the system, some of the comatose victims don't even recall ever playing 'The World.'"

"How is that related to me? I don't have amnesia! I remember everyone that I met when I played!"

"And none of them have returned?" Helba asked.

Before answering my thoughts shifted back to my friend list and inbox from when I logged in; both were erased.

"No…everything was erased…" I said softly thinking of the possibility that none of them returned because their characters were erased forever.

"In fact everything relating to the comatose victims was supposed to be erased: areas, characters, items; everything except…"

"Except that _some _things refused to be deleted…" I finished. I thought was it even possible for a computer program to _refuse _the wishes of the user? It was an impossible notion...wasn't it?

"Exactly. This is what makes you interesting. For example this area was erased until a few weeks ago." Helba said looking at me, even though I couldn't see her face I could feel her eyes piercing the mask she bore looking dead at me.

"That's when I came back." I thought to myself, but I'm sure Helba was well aware of this.

"What does this have to do with me?" I asked.

"I have a theory, but it is a long shot. Although, looking at your character and knowing the item you possess is reinforcing this theory it is still a long shot." Helba answered.

"What is it?" I asked

"Tell me god damn it! If it's about me don't I have the right to know?" I demanded.

"A few weeks ago I found an anomaly in 'The Word.' A pile of corrupted data, perhaps remnants that have been lurking in the system for sometime now. What was even more interesting was that certain fields that were deleted suddenly came back, of course the keywords were deleted from Chaos Gates in town, but if _someone_ had a special power or knew where to find them then accessing these once forgotten areas would be all too easy."

The keywords were erased? I thought back to the Chaos Gate in Mac Anu. Were the words Hidden Forbidden Holy Ground really gone? I racked my brain for a few seconds, but I couldn't remember selecting the words. I remembered thinking about the cathedral and then I used the Chaos Gate and there I was. Did I warp without use of the Chaos Gate? No that couldn't be it, that would be…ludicrous.

"An anomaly in the system? What do you mean?" I inquired, a smidge of panic leaked into my voice.

"There you are!" A third voice bellowed, her callous tone echoing through the cathedral.

"Mia? Oh well if this isn't interesting." Helba said smiling.

"Draw your blades! This ends right here and now!" Mia declared drawing her sword. With every step she took that familiar ring echoed in my head.

"This is it." I thought to myself. Somehow I knew that this battle would bring me all the answers I craved.

I made the first attack, my blades catching her counter slash.

"What are you?" I demanded of the cat player.

"We are the same." She responded.

The same? What the hell did that mean? This answer didn't satisfy my need for the truth. I ran around trying to catch her from behind, but she leapt into the air and did a downward spiral attack that hit me dead on and sent me dragging on the floor.

There I lay on the floor of the cathedral; Mia had her sword pointed at my throat.

"Now I shall carry out my task." Mia slammed her sword into the ground next to my head and aimed her right arm in my face.

"N…no…" I said weakly, I knew what was coming next. Being in a coma wasn't so bad I thought. At least I would be away from _him_ and there would be no homework. It wouldn't be so bad…

Mia was suddenly thrown back with a blast of ice and my energy returned. I was able to do a back flip onto my feet and I was ready for combat once more, my savior wasn't Helba. He stood in the twilight of the setting sun his ocean blue robes wafting gently in the wind; it was pretty cliché.

"Kashou don't let her delete you!" Elk called. He had his staff raised and apparently intended to aid me in battle.

"That isn't Mia! It's a deletion program that the system administrator sent out to erase you."

"Delete me? What the hell do you mean?" I asked

"Look out!" he cried.

Mia used the dust as a cover taking her chance to leap at me. It all happened too fast. I _felt_ her grip my arms as she pushed me into the wall. I screamed for Helba to help me, but she was gone. I couldn't see Elk, but I could hear spells being fired off at an unseen enemy, I could hear a faint cry from Elk's enemy and I thought I had heard him say: "Guardian?"

Mia's movement was too quick, after being crushed against the wall she took me by one arm and flung me over her shoulder like a sack of items an ex lover wanted to destroy.

"Now face deletion." Mia said as she walked towards me, right arm outstretched her white palm reaching for my face.

"Is this it?" I thought to myself. I prepared myself for another long wait in a coma, then just as I was about to accept my fate I heard a familiar voice. It was that of a young girl, her youthful and high pitched voice said: "Return."

"Return? I did return. I'm here just like you wanted!" I said to myself.

"What the hell do you want from me!?" I bellowed.

And then something clicked. Mia's words; "You're like me." If Mia was a computer program sent to 'delete' me, was I…data? That couldn't be it. I have memories of the real world! I have vivid memories of school, friends, my room, my parents, previous birthdays, and even my physical appearance; surely computer programs were not able to have memories of the real world…could they?


	8. Chapter 8

Author's Note: This is it the FINAL chapter in this story! Thanks to everyone who has read it and been following it up until this highly anticipated conclusion. It took me forever to find a decent way to end this piece, beginning and ending things is what I struggle the most with as a writer, (aside from grammar) but I think this turned out very well. As usual R&R and I hope you like it!

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**_Shadow_**

Mia's hand was in my face. She was about to finish me off. I weakly looked up at her from my position on the ground. I was flat on my back looking up at the ceiling to the grand cathedral. I never realized how soothing naked little children with wings were. I was scared. At this point I had no idea who or what I was. I wanted to just shut down the computer terminal, to prove them all wrong and pull the plug and end everything. I would then walk away from the computer, grab my tennis racquet and go hit the courts. I remember the thrill I had when I won my first match. I felt a sense of accomplishment, which the pains of training and struggling to be the best had finally paid off. I decided that I wanted that thrill once more; I was not going back into a coma.

A new surge of energy coursed through me as I rolled to the side and got back onto my feet.

"You're not going to do anything to me." I said through gritted teeth.

Mia sighed and dropped her hand.

"You just don't get it do you?" She sighed.

"Its you who doesn't get it, even if I am an anomaly I can't be erased that easily." Our eyes locked and a faint smile flickered across her face.

"I wasn't expecting this to be easy." Mia said as she raised her weapon once more.

"Don't worry I won't disappoint. I think I figured this puzzle out, even though I don't want to admit it to myself. Everything that I've experienced recently in 'The World' has been _her_ doing; _she _wanted me to understand and to go back to where I belong. At first I had thought that when she was calling out for me to return it meant that I was needed once again in this game, however I know now that is not the case."

I took a deep breath and stretched my hand out towards Mia, who began to laugh uncontrollably.

"What do you think you are doing? Do you think the power of Data Drain is made possible to all players?" She snickered.

"Of course not, however you and I both know that I am not a player." I concentrated the hardest I have ever had to and for a brief moment I saw an ethereal image of a bracelet on my outstretched wrist. With all my might I reached for Mia without taking a step. It's a strange sensation. It's like you're trying to extend your arm forward without moving, trying to extent it further than you could normally reach, but without physically moving. You know the feeling you get when you want something more than anything else? It feels like that at the start then you have to just say to yourself 'I want it' and then just let yourself have it.

Well anyway, I wanted Mia to die and then I just let it happen. From the ethereal bracelet came a force stronger than I could handle, it shot itself at Mia with such a powerful force she was knocked backwards. I approached her body cautiously, her color had faded to grey and her character's eyes were closed, to any other player she looked like she had been knocked out. I watched her for a couple of minutes and then her character began to glow a strong white. I raised my daggers and prepared for a round two, but much to my surprise she vanished in a flash.

"That was easy…ish." I said to myself feeling full of relief, that is until I turned around and saw Elk still fighting the dumbbell shaped monster. For some reason I felt a strange urge to command it away, I figured why not try it? It's been a strange enough day as it was.

"Guardian." I called, my voice cracked a little from nerves, if my plan didn't work then I'd be dead…well as dead as someone who was never alive could be. The dumbbell monster turned its attention away from the little blue wavemaster and came to my side, like a long lost friend. I put away my weapons and pet it gently before commanding it away.

"I knew it." Elk mouthed, I couldn't hear his voice, but I knew that's what he said.

"It turns out my long-shot idea was in fact, correct." A woman's soft voice pierced the air; Helba. I had completely forgotten about her once Mia stepped into the church.

"Helba, how long have you been watching?" I shouted, my voice echoing through the chapel.

"Long enough." Replied Helba, she descended from the ceiling like an angel from heaven. She had been watching the entire time.

"You used the power of the Twilight bracelet, I know of only one other who possessed such an item and I guarantee you his character was erased." Her melodic voice bothered me.

"I know. That pile of data you found, that was me wasn't it?" I said my voice dropped.

"I wasn't sure at first, but when your powers manifested I knew my theory was correct."

"How did I come to be then?" I demanded.

"Aura." Helba replied.

"Aura? What does she have to do with any of this?" I shouted back angrily.

"Aura is, for a lack of a better term, a living program. She gathered all of the left over data and with a bit of her own consciousness drew them together."

"Why would she do something like that?" I said, at this point my words drowned in panic and fear." Right as the words escaped my mouth I knew the answer. 'Return' she had said to me. She didn't mean for me to come back to the game, she meant for me to _leave_ the game and to go back to where I came from, where these memories came from. My comprehension must have been obvious.

"You understand" Helba said with a smile.

"Within your character is a fragment of Aura and without it she can not be whole, not only do you harbor lost memories of the comatose victims, but you also hold Aura's life in your hands."

I looked over to where Elk was standing, but he was gone.

"What happened to Elk?" I asked.

"He was a puppet created by me to help you uncover the truth."

I dropped to my knees overcome with sorrow. This was really happening. All these memories I had; school, friends, family, was none of it real? All of this was Aura's doing. Why would she do this to me? She gave me life and then expected me to just give it all back when I realized the truth. I didn't want to go back to being nothing, I enjoyed existing.

"It doesn't have to be this way." The melody returned to Helba's voice.

"You are indeed a pile of corrupt data however; I see that you pose no threat. If you wish to set free everything inside of you I will do it, but if you wish to remain the way that you are I shall ignore you, let you do whatever you wish." Despite the kind words I could sense a malevolent undertone.

"What of Aura then?" I asked

"She will continue to sleep until she is whole once again."

"Will she ever be whole without the fragment I carry?" I inquired. Helba merely shook her head.

None of these memories were mine. I am nothing but a shadow. To fix everything that was lost I would have to give up my existence. It wasn't fair. If I kept these memories I would be no better than the people who robbed them from the players. If I gave it all back I would fade to nothing once more. All the memories I had of right and wrong were battling in my head. It was the right thing for me to make a self sacrifice and give everything back thus ending my life, that's what the good guys do in the movies. The good guys, the heroes, they usually ended up living not dying. What if I wasn't one of the good guys? What if I was one of the bad guys and I just didn't know it yet.

"Return." The soft silver voice rang in my ears once more and I was brought back to the situation. I was in the church essentially making a deal with the virtual devil.

Did I want to go back to being nothing?

Knowing what's at stake, would you?


End file.
